Things happen for a reason

My friend Nicholas C. Rossis, author of the recently published children’s book Runaway Smile (which I’m reading) and the Amazon best-selling epic fantasy series, Pearseus, shared this article (and a link to a free copy of the book) I thought might interest you.

I’ve come to realize lately that things happen in their own time. No matter how much I want something, if it’s meant to happen, it will, no effort needed on my part. Other times, I might want something very much, but no matter how much effort I put into it, it just doesn’t happen – and trust me; this has happened a lot. Then again, something that I completely ignore might just flourish in front of my eyes, unexpectedly and effortlessly.

Following that, I think about how things have “happened” in my life, leading me to where I am right now. I studied civil engineering (my dad’s idea of a secure job) and in 1995 I went on to do a PhD in Digital Architecture (the only way for me to link my degree with two of my passions, design and computers). Hardly a month into the course, a professor asked me out of the blue to make a website for the department, from scratch. He gave me three days to do it; days I spent reading a lot, experimented quite a bit and pulling hair, until I did it, and my first website went live at the end of the 3-day period.

I’ve been working as a web developer for almost 20 years now. I still do, partly because I have to earn a living and partly because I’ve worked so hard to create Istomedia, my company, that I feel like it’s kind of a family member. Then, a couple of years ago, I realized that I had started losing patience: with clients, projects, designs, programming, the constant need for updating and upgrading and the 6-month life cycle of everything technological. I turned to writing as a relief, and realized, startled, that it was all I wanted to do.

Every now and again, I wonder whether my studies and everything I have worked for is going to waste. But I think not: my degree has helped me to study and organize my thoughts. My PhD taught how to properly research topics, question everything, look for new and different ways to achieve a result. My work has taught me how to market my book, design its cover, create the ebook file. Indie publishing requires the same skills: presenting myself and my work to potential clients, networking, promoting my creations, finishing a project within a deadline and a budget etc.

So, at 44, life has brought me where I am. All the things I’ve done, have arguably happened because I need them today. Which is why I try to practice nowadays what Tao Te Ching calls Wei Wu Wei – actionless action: the art of setting your destination and letting life take you there. It’s a nice concept, isn’t it?

Find free copies of Pearseus: Schism on Goodreads, and Runaway Smile on his blog: http://nicholasrossis.me/childrens-books/

Nicholas lives in Athens, Greece, at a forest’s edge, with his wife, dog and two very silly cats, one of whom is always sitting on his lap, so please excuse any typos in his blog posts: typing with one hand can be hard. Mercifully, all of his books are professionally edited.

For more about Nicholas and his books visit his blog: http://nicholasrossis.me/, Twitter: www.twitter.com/Nicholas_Rossis, Google+ https://plus.google.com/+NicholasRossis, Facebook: www.facebook.com/NicholasCRossis, Amazcon: http://www.amazon.com/Nicholas-C.-Rossis/e/B00FXXIBZA/

We have this self-imposed occupation fledging from a completely different career in common. I wonder if there’s a philosophy in your Pearseus series that underlies it, as there is in The Runaway Smile.

It’s hard to take our an author from their work, so absolutely, Pearseus mirrors my beliefs as much as Smile does. It’s just that Smile has a sharper focus. Specifically, it focuses on what makes people lose their smile, and what can help them find it again 🙂